54 Golden Nuggets: The Best of the Telephone Doctor

Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions. These are questions without a fixed limit. They are questions that encourage continued conversation and help you get more information. They’re used to get people to open up and talk. Most, but not all, open-ended questions will start with one of these words: who, what, where, why, when and how. I say most, not all, because while these are well-known words to ask open-ended questions, they still can get you one-word answers. So while not perfect, open-ended questions will typically get you much more information.

Closed-ended questions. Conversely, closed-ended questions have a fixed limit. They are often answered with a “yes,” “no,” or a simple statement of fact. Closed-ended questions are usually used ...